


Communication is key (or something like that)

by Essiggurke



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men: First Class (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik Logic Is The Best Logic, First Kiss, Getting Together, Jealous Erik Lehnsherr, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:14:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25745692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Essiggurke/pseuds/Essiggurke
Summary: Living with Charles and Raven was probably the best thing that had happened to Erik in a long time. Even though Charles is messy and attention-seeking and ridiculous and fun and smart and cute and no, Erik is not in love with him! Why would you even say that?or:Erik needs an embarrassingly long time to realize his feelings for Charles. Once he does there is only one thing he can do. Ignoring them and hoping they will go away. Preferably, along with the annoying brunette women, Charles seems to like.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 9
Kudos: 95





	Communication is key (or something like that)

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this is my first fanfiction ever, please be gentle. Also, English isn't my first language, so there are probably a few mistakes left, but I tried.  
> I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own any of those characters.

Erik still couldn’t believe how easily Raven had talked him into watching a rerun of “Crazy, Stupid, Love” for what felt like the hundredth time. Just 20 minutes ago everything had been fine. He had been up in his room, peacefully alone and grumpy and miserable and then Raven came strolling in without knocking and threw herself on his bed without saying a word. For a few seconds it was absolutely quiet and then Raven had opened her mouth and things went downhill from there.

She said something about being bored and missing his unfriendly company and he told her to fuck off and she told him that he was a pain in the ass and he told her to go screw herself and then she started babbling about _feelings_ he was suppressing (he was totally not) and how her brother was planning to talk about _feelings_ this afternoon, because Charles felt like Erik was avoiding him (he wasn’t doing that either, totally not, not even a little bit) and then Raven said that Charles would probably stop if they did something together because she, Raven, knew that Erik hated talking about _feelings_ , even though everyone except Charles knew exactly what was going on (he really hoped that was an exaggeration) and he, Erik, should stop being a pussy and admit his _feelings_ this afternoon when Charles came to talk to him. And then she smirked seeing Erik’s flabbergasted face and told him that if he wanted to skip the talk with Charles, he had to do something with them.

And that is the reason why he sat at one end of the couch with Ravens head on his lap and Ryan Gosling stalking across the screen hitting on everything feminine that moves, because he, Erik, was a fucking pussy not able to talk about feelings. Charles, who was sitting on the other end of the couch with Raven`s feet on his lap, was throwing him worried looks now and then. Charles has been right about one thing: Erik was avoiding him.

Erik remembered the day he moved in with them quite clearly, even though he still didn’t exactly understand how it had happened. Originally, he had planned on staying in the dormitory of his college like every other student with a scholarship did. But then somewhere between his arrival in London and the meeting with the Dean he met big blue eyes and pouty mouth and was instantly hooked.

He never made it to the Dean to discuss his plans about the dormitory but ended in a nearby bar with Charles telling him about his psychology studies and his sister Raven: “She is lovely Erik. You will love her!” like they had known each other for years and it was a fact that Erik was going to meet this girl anytime soon. And Charles babbled on about Oxford and the possibilities it provided and about his favorite pudding (Which was vanilla, thank you very much) and Erik knew more about this strange guy with the lovely eyes after one evening than he did about his best buddies back in Poland.

The missed appointment with the Dean, which he had totally forgotten about while staring at Charles open mouthed, ended in a harsh telling-off from the Dean’s secretary and the information that he wouldn’t be able to get a dorm. “These are the rules Mister Lehnsherr and they are not to be bent. Good Afternoon.”

While cursing the stupid secretary with her stupid rules and his own stupidity he couldn’t be mad at Charles, whom he met later this afternoon to go to some bookshop (“Not some bookshop, Erik, the Bookshop! It’s the best you are going to find in London”). Heaven knows how Charles managed to talk Erik into that. Erik liked reading, but he hated Bookshops. You had to be quiet and it smelled like old dust and paper and you needed hours to find the book you were looking for and the staff was always completely unhelpful, just directing you in the general direction. Arrogant, lazy bastards all of them! (“But Erik don’t be so judgmental! I am sure they are doing the best they can.”).

They had reached the 21st century, it was possible to read on an e-book (“It isn’t the same Erik, the smell that hits you when you open a new book is overwhelming.” And that was exactly what Erik was talking about), but Charles had looked at him with those eyes, those fucking eyes that were going to kill Erik one day, and pleaded to come with him because he needed someone to help him carry the books.

At this time Erik thought Charles was kidding and was only trying to persuade him into spending more time with him. Now he knew Charles was never kidding about books or cardigans (or his ability to burn down the kitchen while trying to cook). And so, Erik found himself packed with 3 bags full of books about psychology, a cooking book (“I’m going to learn it Erik, you will see.” He didn’t) and a book about knitting, (“I read that knitting should be exceptionally calming maybe I will try it one day.” He didn’t do that either) and trotting dutifully behind Charles as the latter was happily babbling about his day.

Later they sat at the same spot in the same bar (it would later become their spot), talking about nothing in particular when Erik started grumbling about the secretary with some chosen words (“Erik! Language!” Like they were a married couple) and Charles asked him to move in with him and his sister (apparently the lovely Raven, he had heard so much about the night before). They had a spare bedroom and they would love it, if he moved in with them.

And even though Erik hated being the charity project of Mr. Blue-eyes he wasn’t able to back out of the offer once it was on the table, because Charles was a master of manipulation and his big eyes were blue seas you could drown in, if you weren’t careful and his lips were perfect for long time pouting apparently and all things considered those were by far better arguments than Erik was able to form with his mind solely focused on the fact that a man’s lips could be that red.  
At least he managed to put his foot down and talked Charles into letting him do the shopping and the cooking. He didn’t want to live solely from Charles generosity and his money, even if he had more than enough of that. Not that Erik was jealous or envied him. Money wasn’t everything and what the Xaviers had in financial means they lacked in familial bonds (Charles had tears in his eyes the day he told Erik about his alcoholic mother and Raven called her a fucking bitch every time she came up) and Erik would never trade the few happy memories he had of his mother, not for all the money in the world.

So, Erik moved in with Charles and Raven, who wasn’t as lovely as Charles claimed her to be (“So you are Charles` new crush, thought you would be prettier!” Charles choked at that and Erik smirked) but was Erik’s second favorite person nonetheless.  
Living with those two was probably the best thing that ever happened to Erik, even if nearly every flat surface was buried under hundreds of books inclusive the bookshelves covering every wall in their living room.

And it was still a great thing when Erik realized that Charles had the habit of bursting into Erik’s room to tell him about the fantastic psychology experiment he had read about at three in the morning and wouldn’t leave until he fell asleep in Erik’s bed stealing his blanket and curling around Erik like a giant octopus (not that Erik minded that part, not at all).

It was still the fucking best thing when Raven was having one of these days and was crying her eyes out about a guy she. Literally. Just. Met., because she believed she wasn’t pretty enough, only to walk around in miniskirts and very revealing dresses the very next day. The good thing about these days was, that there was ice-cream. According to Raven cookie dough ice-cream was the only real thing to mend a broken heart (“A lot of people are going to tell you it’s chocolate-chip but that’s sooo wrong!” she told him once around a spoon of ice-cream), so they would lie on the couch watching stupid love movies with Raven crying in her ice-cream pot, Charles blinking rapidly (“Because the light from the TV is hurting my eyes, really, Erik”) and Erik stealing a spoonful of ice cream whenever Raven was too busy crying to notice.

It still was the best thing when Erik had to wash a mug at half past 6 in the morning for his daily coffee because Charles had buried his nose in one of the books the night before and had read the whole night and couldn’t be bothered with washing the dishes but used a new cup every fucking time he needed a tea nonetheless (“It’s about the taste Erik, if you use an old cup it spoils the taste”, the hypocrite told him while shoving microwave mac and cheese into his mouth).  
Sometimes it drove Erik nuts and he tried telling Charles that he could do his fucking chores alone and Erik was not going to clean the whole house by himself but then Charles would look up with those adoring, sleep-deprived puppy eyes and ask Erik if he would bring him a cup of tea because he really needed to finish this chapter or he would go insane not knowing how it ended. And Erik would soften and bring him his (freshly washed) cup of tea and Charles would look at him like he was the fucking best thing ever (One night when Erik had dragged a half conscious Charles home after one beer to many he had murmured “I would literally die without you! Die! Do you hear me. Die!” and then he had puked on Erik’s shoes) and Erik couldn’t stay mad because this was Charles and Charles was fucking perfect just the way he was. (Not that he ever told him that, the nicest thing Erik probably ever said to Charles was: “Your eyes sparkle when you laugh did you know that!” and then Charles had beamed at Erik and Erik couldn’t help but add: “It’s really distracting” and Charles smile only grew bigger and Erik didn’t know why).

And it still was the best damn thing when Erik realized that he might be a tiny little bit in love with Charles Xavier.

He had always known that Charles was his best (and probably only) friend in the whole world, but he needed an embarrassing long time to realize that he was madly in love with his best friend. He probably should have realized it when he started to look at Charles lips the very first day they had met, or he should have realized it when he started doing everything Charles wanted just because Charles asked him to. Or maybe the warning bells in his head should have gone off when he started thinking of Charles eyes as the most beautiful eyes ever. At the very latest it should have been a dead giveaway when he started dreaming of those eyes staring up at him clouded by lust while Erik pressed him into his mattress.

But no… Erik first realized his feelings drunk in a bar. He and Charles were sitting in their usual spot when Charles stated that he was going to get more drinks for them both. Erik’s mind was already extremely fuzzy, but he still thought this was a great idea, he hadn’t felt this light and problem free in a long time and wanted to hold onto that feeling a little bit longer. He waited for 10 extremely long minutes for Charles to return before he went looking. He wasn’t that hard to find: Charles was standing directly in front of a beautiful brunette woman that was casually leaning against the wall behind her and smiling at Charles invitingly. When Charles leaned forward to kiss the girl full on the mouth Erik felt something heavy dropping in his stomach. For a moment Erik thought he was going to be sick because of the alcohol and started cursing his low tolerance when he saw the girl curling her hand around Charles neck and burying her fingers in his soft, dark hair.

At that moment, standing in a shabby bar his head spinning from alcohol and a guy bumping his shoulder while trying to get past, the truth came crashing down! Erik Lehnsherr was in love with Charles Xavier. The Charles Xavier currently leading a girl to the exit with his hand pressed into the small of her back. At the exit he turned around one last time and saw Erik standing in the middle of the bar. He smiled at him and winked before the door shut behind them.

So yeah, Erik was avoiding Charles. He was avoiding him, the very next day when he came out of his room completely hangover, stumbling his way into the kitchen just to pour himself a cup of coffee (“The only thing that helps against a hangover is a balanced breakfast, Erik” Charles had once said before he spent the rest of the day violently sick), and stumbling across two very un-Raven-like high heels. He was avoiding him, when he spent the rest of the day sitting in a faraway coffee shop, pointedly not thinking about what Charles was probably doing right now. He was avoiding him, when he spent the next days locked in his room, pretending to study. And yes, he was still avoiding him now, staring at Ryan Gosling like his fucking life depended on it, even though Charles was staring at him obsessively (Him being Erik, not Ryan).

Suddenly Raven took out her phone and stared at it for a few seconds. “Angel has a date later tonight and she wants me to pick an outfit with her. I am going!” She told no one in particular, sounding honestly exited, even though Erik could see her phone and knew she was a lying piece of shit because her phone display was mockingly black. Raven swung her legs from Charles thighs, jumped to her feet, stretched exaggeratedly and walked to the door. She put on her coat, winked at Erik and was out of the door before Erik even had the time to tell her that she was an evil witch, and he hated her, and he would never do anything nice for her ever again and… he was alone with Charles now.

Erik turned slowly back to Charles, who was still staring at him as if nothing had changed in the last seconds. Erik stared back, unable to look away, now that his eyes had locked with Charles'. Charles was still not reacting, just staring at him and it was starting to creep Erik out, but he was still transfixed. Absolutely hypnotized by those eyes. Maybe he should say something, explain why he had acted so differently those past few days. Maybe he should pull a Raven, get out his phone and pretend to be meeting a friend. (“Erik you don't do friends. You don't do relationships. You just do Charles”; Raven had once said. He hadn't pointed out how wrong that one sounded. She was probably aware, judging by her knowing smirk.)

Before Erik could do something drastic like leaving, or fainting, or confessing his undying love, Charles moved. His eyes still fixed on Erik he was slowly moving towards him. Erik froze like a deer in headlights. Charles was still coming closer, leaning towards him, the distance between those two now nearly non-existent. Erik was finally able to tear his eyes away from Charles shining blue ones and shifted his gaze to Charles` lips. Those red lips, that were distractingly close and turning into a smile. And then those lips met his. After months and weeks and days imagining what it would feel like, Erik finally knew how Charles` smiling mouth felt against his. And if he let out a moan and crushed Charles against himself and buried his hands in his hair and didn't stop kissing him ‘til Raven barged in and yelled at them to get a room, it was nobody’s business but his.

And if Charles told him, that the girl he had kissed was his friend Moira helping him to get a reaction out of Erik, and if Erik didn't speak to Charles for nearly 5 minutes after that confession, until Charles kissing along his jaw, convinced him to stop being offended, nobody needed to know either. And if they spent the next few years even more inseparable than the first, and if Erik and Charles stayed together after getting their degrees, and if Charles became a very chaotic but good professor at Oxford (“Have you seen the papers I should grade, I could swear I left them somewhere in the bathroom”), it was nobody`s business but his. And if Erik was trying to propose to Charles, but Charles was not listening until Erik half-screamed his proposal, and if they adopted 3 children together and Erik stayed home with them (“No Charles, I am not leaving my kids with a parent who isn't able to cook and that's final”) and if they grew old together and had a wonderful life, it was nobody’s business but his. Well and maybe Charles`.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Please leave a comment or Kudos, I would love to know what you think.
> 
> If you are interested in fanvids as well, check out my [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa_t1WYD9vNxpxAC34jDCEg?view_as=subscriber>) account!


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